Sam Fender and Olivia Dean‘s Rein Me In has gone from an album deep cut to one of the most successful singles in UK chart history. The collaboration has now spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart, making it the longest-running UK number one single of the 2020s and placing it alongside some of the biggest records ever released.
Originally written as a solo track for Fender’s Mercury Prize-winning album People Watching, the song found a second life after Dean joined him for a surprise live performance during his record-breaking London Stadium concert in June 2025. Since then, it has broken chart records, collected major awards and become an international success.
From album track to chart phenomenon
When Sam Fender released People Watching, Rein Me In was not positioned as the album’s lead single.
The turning point came when Olivia Dean heard the album before release. Both artists are signed to Universal Music UK labels, with Fender on Polydor and Dean on Capitol Records UK. After listening, Dean chose Rein Me In as the song she wanted to work on and wrote an entirely new second verse alongside songwriter Max Wolfgang.
Rather than simply adding backing vocals, Dean transformed the song into a conversation between two perspectives.
The London Stadium performance that changed everything
The collaboration officially came to life during Sam Fender’s headline concert at London Stadium in June 2025, attended by more than 82,000 fans.
Olivia Dean had stepped in as a late support act after The War on Drugs withdrew from the show. Midway through the concert, Fender surprised the audience by inviting Dean back on stage to debut their new version of Rein Me In.
The performance immediately spread across social media, with fan-shot videos generating millions of views within days. Two weeks later, the studio version was released across streaming platforms.
How the song climbed to number one
Unlike many chart-toppers, Rein Me In was not an overnight success.
The collaboration debuted at No. 6 following its release before spending months hovering inside the top 20. It gradually gathered momentum through streaming, radio support and repeated live performances before eventually reaching No. 1 after a 35-week climb.
The timing also benefited from Official Charts rules. While solo artists are limited to three songs in the Top 100 at one time, collaborations are treated separately, allowing Dean to maintain four simultaneous Top 10 hits during one of the strongest periods of her career.
Momentum continued to build following:
- Fender and Dean’s live performances.
- The release of Fender’s London Stadium concert film on YouTube.
- Olivia Dean winning Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards.
- The pair winning Song of the Year at the 2026 BRIT Awards.
The records Rein Me In has broken
With 15 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1, Rein Me In has now achieved several historic milestones.
It has become:
- The longest-running UK No. 1 single of the 2020s.
- The longest-running No. 1 by a British artist this century.
- Equal with Wet Wet Wet’s Love Is All Around as the longest-running British No. 1 single of all time.
- Equal with Drake’s One Dance as the longest-running UK No. 1 of the 21st century.
Only two songs in Official Charts history have spent longer at the summit:
- Bryan Adams, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (16 weeks).
- Frankie Laine, I Believe (18 weeks).
